Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a type of additive manufacturing where the shape of printed objects is modeled incrementally, layer by layer. 3D printing is a process of making a 3D solid object from a digital model, where successive layers of material are laid down (i.e., by a 3D printer) in different shapes. After one layer is printed, the next layer is placed on top of it. This approach can lead to problems when printing objects with overhangs or geometry that is not directly connected to the ground, a printing platform or pad, or other supportive surface. This is because, in such cases, material is printed in empty space without any support from previous layers. For a 3D object with overhangs or other floating features not connected to the ground, there are not underlying layers of the objects to support the overhangs. One solution to overcome this problem is to print supporting material below the problematic, overhanging features. Such supporting material can hold the overhangs and be removed after the printing is finished. For some existing 3D printing technologies, the supporting material can be dissolved or washed away from the solid 3D object after printing is completed. However, for other 3D printing methods, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM) or stereolithography, the material used for the supporting structure is typically identical to the material of the printed object. In these cases, such supporting material has to be removed mechanically using force or specialized tools. The drawback of these traditional solutions is that once removed, the supporting material can leave marks on the printed object. This can greatly degrade the quality of the printed object. A traditional technique for constructing a supporting structure involves projecting areas that need support down towards the ground. Such projections can then be used to define the shape of the supporting structure. One drawback of this technique is that it creates many unwanted contacts and intersections between the supporting structure and the printed object, which degrades the quality of resulting object.